


Love Is A Strong Word

by ponderingthoughts



Category: Political RPF - US 21st c.
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21802450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ponderingthoughts/pseuds/ponderingthoughts
Summary: Pete and Chasten embark on their third date and face the challenges of defining their budding relationship and mapping the trajectory of a potential life together.
Relationships: Chasten Buttigieg/Pete Buttigieg
Comments: 16
Kudos: 43





	Love Is A Strong Word

Before Chasten noticed, he had memorized the route from his scrappy Chicago apartment to the heart of South Bend, Indiana. To Chicago, it was modest, but nothing his Michigan heart wasn’t comfortable with. 

After his first trip there, one late August night, Chasten drew mind maps of the life he would live with his soon-to-be boyfriend. Peter made it easy. He was so innocent, so vulnerable. Even on their first date, Peter took special care in Chasten. He met his heartfelt eyes with a sincere gaze that warmed Chasten with a sense of belonging even Traverse City had lost on him. He put his fears on hold when he took grasp of Chasten’s hand, surprising even himself in the moment. And, even as Chasten took the lead in their first kiss, Peter reminded him that he belonged in his arms, as he refused to let the distance between them extend past an inch. 

Now, they were two dates in and preparing for the third. Between switching lanes and rush-hour traffic, Chasten couldn’t seem to abandon a gleaming smile. Under the memory of Peter, Chasten, somewhat naively, felt whole. In two short weeks, he had given his every thought to the newly out man, well aware that things would most definitely begin to unravel with time. 

But, Chasten had hope, and that was enough. At least, today it was. 

When Chasten pulled up to the house fifteen minutes early, he noticed that it was not as extraordinarily large as he had remembered from a week prior. The grand white house was, indeed, the same size as every other house on the block. In his memory, though, it was a mansion. 

Maybe he had convinced himself of such grandeur because he believed the man in its possession deserved it, and so much more. But, maybe, even more so, he wished it were bigger so sharing it with another would be its inevitable fate. 

Chasten’s soft knock on the gothic wood door did not last long before the door launched itself towards Peter under his eager grasp. 

His attempts at casual wear were pitiful, but admirable. Chasten blushed intensely under the notion that Peter had tried so hard, three weekends in a row, to display himself as a human being. No suit, no tie, no dress shoes. Just absurdly large pants and a polo that seemed far too tight in comparison to the lower half of the pairing.

“You try too hard”, Chasten joked, his eyes softening under the sight of such an adorable atrocity.

“In the best way possible?”, Peter inquired. He slid his rigid but mildly shaky hands down the length of his shirt, only further imprinting the wrinkles he had intended to smooth out.

“In the best way possible“, Chasten agreed.

They had decided against driving to dinner, preferring to walk the scenic route to Peter’s favorite restaurant, which was conveniently located five minutes away. Before they had even stepped off of the porch, Peter reached for Chasten’s hand, interlocking their fingers. He raised his head to catch Chasten’s glance, wordlessly seeking consent. Chasten smiled brightly and squeezed their intertwined hands ever so gently. 

On their path to the city’s cultural center, they passed neighbor’s houses and historical South Bend establishments, alike. Peter shared a plethora of stories about each, crafting narratives from his own lived experience and what he had learned through time into one seamless story of a city he considered a forever home. Even when he traveled through the nation, or extended his adventures across seas, it all came back to South Bend. 

Chasten wondered, with every passing story, if he would ever find home in one place again. He wouldn’t dare imagine that place to be South Bend, but the thought tickled his wistful mind and consumed his desires for a lingering moment. 

His silence had grown extended beyond a product of giving Peter a listening ear. Now, Peter had expended his stories and Chasten said nothing in return.

Peter slowed his pace until Chasten’s adjusted accordingly. “Hey. Everything alright?”, Peter asked. His brows furrowed with sincere concern.

Three weeks in and Peter proved to be beyond attentive. A moment’s silence was enough for Peter to understand Chasten had been consumed by his thoughts, once again.

Chasten’s eyes drooped in admiration. The weight of this man’s love had weakened every nerve in his body, and much too soon. He wished he could pour over everything Peter was, but grew fearful of his desire to dive so deep, so quick.

His eyes blinked rapidly and his head shook gently under the impression of such a ridiculous question. Of course, he thought. Of course he was okay. He was more than okay. Holding hands with a man he was ready to trust with forever made him feel more than okay; he felt invincible.

“Yes”, he answered, just above a whisper, allowing his shortness to imply everything else he yearned to say. 

The concern dressing Pete’s intensely youthful face did not diminish, but he resettled their walking pace to convince Chasten that his answer was sufficient.

By the time they left the restaurant an hour after arriving there, Peter had realized that the meal consisted of more eating than talking. A normality for most, but not Peter and Chasten. Each of the two dates prior, the pair had disregarded time as they went back and forth, eager to share everything they could with one another before the sun set and departure was inevitable. 

This time, the meal had concluded, and the two walked back to Peter’s home relatively silent. Chasten’s head hung just a touch lower than normal and Peter could tell. His eyes refused to depart from Chasten, especially now, as he searched for the words Chasten needed. 

They walked slow, stretching the night in a way they had never done before. Now, it was Peter who was lost in thought. He tensed his face and angled his head as he attempted to find the answer to a problem he was still in search of defining. 

Finally, he moved past Chasten on the sidewalk and sat down on a stout concrete wall that outlined the perimeter of some city building he vaguely remembered renovating in his first year as mayor. 

Chasten continued walking for a moment, replacing the presence of a body next to him with his overwhelming thoughts, but eventually paused and turned around to see Peter holding his chin, a tinge of desperation in his eyes.

He hadn’t known him long, but Chasten understood this look of defeat too well. It was Peter’s innate reaction to finding a problem he didn’t already have the solution to. Maybe it was arrogant to believe one man could cure any wrongs if he thought long and hard about it, but Chasten admired nothing more than his desire to do so, even if the odds of failing were insurmountable. 

Again, he was trying too hard. 

Chasten rested himself silently next to Peter, moving his body further right until the two were closer than they had been all night. He rested his head in the dip of Peter’s shoulder and grew more relaxed as the tenseness of Peter’s body melted away effortlessly. 

Peter fixed his gaze on Chasten and grew incredulous as he watched the sweet man’s eyes hold the constellations of the nighttime Indiana sky. He wondered how any human being would dare hurt Chasten. He silently vowed to himself, in that moment, that he would assure everything Chasten sacrificed for him would be worth it. If nothing more, he hoped he would help Chasten believe in love again.

“Is something wrong?”, Chasten asked, breaking Peter’s train of thought. Peter withdrew his eyes from Chasten and looked forward, producing a stoic face in the process.

“I don’t want to hurt you”, he whispered. Chasten couldn’t hide his disbelief, and chuckled in response. 

“Why would you think you’re hurting me?”, he asked with a tinge of accusation in his soft voice.

“Well…”, he paused, searching for the words. “I’m new at this. Obviously.” 

Peter, before continuing, adjusted his hand, allowing it to just barely extend onto Chasten’s thigh. He sharply inhaled, and began again.

“You’ve trusted me with everything. I don’t know how you do it, but you share yourself without fear of telling too much. I hear every word you say and I need you to know that you’ve gifted me with an unmatchable strength in bearing your soul so selflessly. You grace life with an abundance of love that I’m not sure I’m capable of holding. I guess…I guess I’m just worried that you deserve so much more than I’ll ever be able to provide. I don’t want you to have to settle for less than you deserve”.

He paused, finally taking a breath as his heartbeat pounded rhythmically outside of his chest, pervading the hand that had crept its way further onto Chasten’s right thigh. 

“Well, I mean, not that you’ve settled. This is only our third date, of course. I’m not trying to imply anything, but-“ and his words were cut off with Chasten raising his cool hand to Pete’s pink cheek, cupping the radiant warmth within his outstretched fingers.

Peter had yet to realize it, but he had saved Chasten from the world. Just over three weeks of knowing this man and Chasten had already convinced himself that any and all of his past suffering was a requirement of finding this faultless sense of belonging. With Peter in the picture, the world refused to treat Chasten with cruelty. 

Two years ago, Chasten would have snickered at the idea that he would ever find himself uncovering a lost piece of his soul in a newly out midwestern mayor, nevertheless a newly out midwestern mayor who needed protecting from his own tenacious passion. 

As it had seemed fitting that night, Chasten could not find the words he needed so desperately. Instead, he opted for the better option, leaning into Peter until he acknowledged Chasten’s intentions and met his parted lips with an outrageously gentle kiss.

Chasten leaned in, wishing to take the kiss deeper, but knowing full well that there was a better place and better time for such desires. Instead, he allowed himself to give Peter dominance, for once, and fell loosely under thoughtful kisses that melted into one another, like the notes in the newest piano piece Peter had shared with Chasten over FaceTime.

The passion on display crafted symphonies the two mutually decided to cut short once they realized that the streets of Indiana late at night may not be the most welcoming space to continue them. 

On the walk home, the silence between Chasten and Peter was not tense, rather harmonious. With their hands intertwined, the two shared a synchronized heartbeat, and melded their body heat together to battle the chill of a bitter late-summer night. 

When they reached Peter’s porch, Chasten’s demeanor has sunken as he settled into the idea of leaving for another week. They stood in silence, awestruck at how captivated they were with just staring at one another in the unfiltered brightness of the white moonlight.

“I think I really like you”, Chasten blurted out. Confused by his own words, and the pink blush growing over his cheeks, he attempted to provide a better explanation for his thoughts.

“What I mean is, love is a strong word. And, I think I’ve committed to you, but maybe not to love just yet. I do really like you, though. Can we settle on really like?”

The premature wrinkles at the edges of Peter’s eyes scrunched together as he illuminated the porch with a smiler larger than his face could hold. 

“I think I’ve committed to love, but I can settle with really like. Like, really really like if that’s okay”. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I think that’ll do”, Chasten replied, his face filling with the warmth of a professed love made even more intense under the imminent end of date night.

And, after a few, or several, departure kisses, Chasten eventually made it to his car, holding the precious moment with Peter in the air for several minutes before leaving the driveway. 

By the time Chasten had completed the first hour of his excruciatingly long drive home, he had settled on love. Really really like, he decided, was out the window.

**Author's Note:**

> hii, i'm new here but hopefully this plotless nonsense is enjoyable for you ? it took an embarrassingly long time to write so i maybe didn't check too hard for typos so i apologize for that and for all of this but, anyways, thanks to anyone who writes this kind of stuff. y'all are far too talented for me to be even comparable but what you do is spectacular and very admirable and i thoroughly enjoy reading your stuff !
> 
> ok, sorry for rambling, bye :)


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